You and Me
by Liberty Roth
Summary: Toph and Sokka go into town to buy some supplies. But Toph is acting rather edgy and wired, and is hiding something from Sokka... Tokka.
1. Chapter 1

ATTENTION: This fan fiction piece contains SPOILERS FOR THE EPISODE "THE WESTERN AIR TEMPLE" which is the episode after the Day of Black Sun

**ATTENTION:** This fan fiction piece contains **SPOILERS FOR THE EPISODE "THE WESTERN AIR TEMPLE"** which is the episode after the Day of Black Sun. I'm sure all of you rock-hard Avatards have already scoured Youtube and seen it five times by this point… But I'm just warning you.

"No, Momo! Bad Momo!" scolded Sokka as Momo grabbed one of the ink brushes that Sokka had been using to doodle on the edge of his Fire Nation map. He chased the lemur around the camp briefly, before Momo _cheated _and lifted himself into the air. "Fine! You can have it! Lemurs can't write!"

"What are you using that map for anyway? I know the Fire Nation like the back of my hand." Came the low voice of Zuko, who was lounging in the shade of a small tree. He stood, and walked over to where Sokka left the map. He sat next to it, and pointed to a small city. "This is no longer occupied… this is out of water… this place is crawling with guards… here would be a good place to stop… and here… definitely not here…"

It wasn't long before Katara and Aang waded out of the water, and stood next to Zuko as he pointed to different areas of the map. Sokka made a face, and sat down next to Toph instead. "_I'm _the map guy. Thinks he can just _come in _and _steal my job._"

Toph stopped picking at the dirty soles of her feet, and instead stretched out onto the grass. "Aww. Is Ponytail getting jealous of the Ex-Ponytail?" she taunted, and laughed.

"No! I'm just saying… what am I supposed to do with all of my free time? I can't map, I can't bend, I can't –"

"You could quit whining and go get us some more food!" Came the sudden voice of Sokka's sister, as her attention briefly strayed from the map. She had her hands on her hips, and was pointing in the direction of town.

Sokka groaned, but stood anyway. "Come on, Toph," he said, picking up his bag as he started to exit camp. "Let's go."

"What do you mean, 'Come on, Toph?' _I'm _not going with you. I don't want to go to the stupid town." She said, sitting up in the grass and frowning. She seemed awfully defiant today, and was randomly lashing out whenever Katara asked her to go do something.

"If you're not going to look at the map with the rest of them, then you get to come with me. Whose side are you on, Toph? Mine or Ex-Ponytail's?" Sokka questioned, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Toph made a face, but stood anyway. "You'll regret this when you wake up tomorrow and find yourself surrounded by walls of rock."

"I won't regret taking you with me, Toph. I never do. Except that one time you hit me…" Sokka grumbled as the two headed towards the small town.


	2. Chapter 2

It didn't take long for Sokka and Toph to get to the town, since the Gaang had decided to make camp close to it

It didn't take long for Sokka and Toph to get to the town, since the Gaang had decided to make camp close to it. The trip was traveled mostly in silence, and Sokka had to wonder why. Normally he and Toph would find something to talk about, or she would at least tease him about something. He wondered if her silence had something to do with the things that he had said when Toph had been wanted as 'the Runaway.' He bit his lip as they approached the town, wondering if he should have confessed that much to Toph. Then again, she had said a lot of personal stuff to him, too… But that talk had been -

"So what exactly did Katara want us to get?" Toph asked, interrupting Sokka's thoughts. He looked down at the tiny (but not fragile, never fragile) Earthbender.

"Uhhhh... Food?" he suggested, feeling his cheeks flushing lightly. He wondered if Toph noticed, and if she would say anything.

If she did notice, she didn't let on that she did. "Your observation skills are amazing," she snorted, and he watched her face tense as they entered the town.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice low. If her sensitive feet had detected something wrong… they would have to run back to camp and tell the others.

"Nothing," she snapped, and his face fell into a scowl. She had been rather grumpy today, and he wondered why. He hadn't done anything to upset her, had he? With Toph, it was impossible to tell until she blew up. Well, that wasn't true. She let her irritation show, like when she had been angry with 'Sugar Queen' that one time…

It didn't take long for the two to purchase some food for the road. By the time the sun was starting to set, Sokka had a backpack full of dried meat, fruit, and nuts. "Mmm, meat!" he cooed into his bag.

Toph snorted, her black bangs floating in front of her face for a moment, before falling back down to conceal part of her skin. "What is with you and meat, Snoozles?"

"Meat is… the only food group!" he said lovingly, stroking his bag. He would have to explain it to Toph. "See, when you're out on the ice… you don't have many fruit or vegetables. So we mostly ate – "

"It's your happy happy birthday! It's your happy happy birthday, so you can wish for one thing! Because today it's your happy happy birthday – we'll treat you like a king!" Some little children were gathered around another small child, and were singing as the birthday child was seated in the middle of them all. His face clearly showed his glee.

If Sokka hadn't been explaining to Toph about the wonders of meat, he wouldn't have caught the small, fleeting look of alarm that came to the Earthbender's face. He looked back to the children, then to Toph. Children. Toph. Then back again. "Toph…" he began, a grin spreading across his face. He knew why she had been acting so strangely!

"No!" she yelled, clamping her small hand over his mouth. Her hand didn't taste like dirt, like he would have expected it to. It tasted like… well, he didn't know. But not dirt, which he was thankful for. "No! No! No!"

"Iridn'tsayanyfing," came the mumble of an answer from behind Toph's hand. She could feel his grin widen behind her hand.

"Good!" she muttered, pulling her hand away from his face. She started walking casually (but rather hastily) away from him.

"Toph…" he started casually, slinging his Bag O' Meat over his shoulder. "… Is today your birthday?"


	3. Chapter 3

"No

"No!" Toph immediately said through her clenched teeth, but the light flush that found itself onto her face told him otherwise. He couldn't help it. He grinned and grinned and grinned until he thought his cheeks might cramp up.

"It is." He said rather smugly, looking down at the small Earthbender. He couldn't understand why she was so mad about it. Birthdays were happy. Even if she had been sheltered when she was living with her parents – she had gotten presents, hadn't she? "Why are you so… um, angry about that, Toph?"

"Nothing. No. Not." She seethed, grabbing his wrist and dragging him through the crowd of people. He stumbled, having to practically run to keep up with her as she expertly weaved through the sea of citizens. "I'm not angry."

"You _look _angry."

"I'm _not._"

He made a face. "Then why are you so defensive about it? And is that why you've been so… grumpy today?"

"No. It's not. It's really not, Sokka. Come on, let's go. Just forget that it's my birthday." She half-pleaded, though her tone was hard as they broke free of the crowd. They were now on the edge of town, and he could see the stretch of forest in front of them.

Why couldn't she just cooperate? "Toph, why are you so mad about it? Birthdays are fun! You get presents and get sang to! Though I don't get you a present… but we can always go back to town…" he trailed off, turning back to town. Toph gave his wrist a sharp tug, pulling him in the direction of the forest.

"No, they're _not_," she insisted, pulling him into the forest. Once they were behind the trees, she released her warm grip on him. He found himself feeling a little disappointed as he watched her smooth her hair out. Even though her grip on his wrist had been hard (and somewhat painful), her skin had been warm and… well. He couldn't think of a word to describe it.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I said so, Sokka!" she said, her eyes growing hard as they gazed at his chest. He flushed slightly, before remembering that she was blind. She didn't know where she was staring.

"Why? Toph, what makes your birthday so horrible?" he pressed, and he had a feeling that he was irritating her. He didn't care – he wanted to know what happened to her to make her birthdays so horrible.

"Mmmbrmrembyuryngger," she mumbled, turning away from him with a flush on her face. He frowned, and leaned in closer to her.

"What?"

She turned, and her eyes were hard as she gazed up to what she imagined was the location of his head. "I said… Because… because it reminds you that I'm younger than you."


	4. Chapter 4

Because it reminded him that she was younger than him

Because it reminded him that she was younger than him? What? Why would that matter? Sokka had never been particularly quick when it came to catching on, and his mouth hung open slightly.

"What? Why would that matter? I already know how capable you are, Toph. Just because you're thirteen doesn't mean that you can't kill me just by moving your foot or hand. I _fought _with you at the Invasion, remember?" he asked, shaking his head like _she _was the clueless one. "I saw you – "

"Sokka…" her cheeks were an even darker shade now, and her eyes were tilted down towards the ground. "I don't… I know you know that I can fight. It's… it's not that. I don't want you to see me as a thirteen-year-old, Sokka."

"What?" he asked, his mind not quite wrapping around the idea just yet.

Toph felt like hitting him. Or kissing him. Both urges were about the same strength. "I don't want you to see me as a thirteen-year-old _girl_." She tried to clarify.

"You… You…" Sokka's mouth was hanging open slightly, and she turned up to him. His mouth closed, then he opened it to speak. Unfortunately, Toph also began her sentence at the exact same time, so both of them started speaking simultaneously.

"You want me to see you as a thirteen-year-old _boy_? What?" Sokka began.

"I know, I know. I really like you, Sokka. As more than a friend." Toph said at the same time.

After each had made their little duet of thoughts, both of them made a face of confusion and shock.

"_What?_"

"_What?_"

"Why would I want you to see me as a _boy_?!" Toph nearly yelled at him, her tiny fists clenching in anger as her cheeks flushed.

"Wh-what? You like me?! As more than a friend?!" The Water Tribe boy asked, his blue eyes going wide in surprise.

But Toph didn't answer him, she didn't see the pleased sparkle in his eyes. "Do you _see _me as a boy, Sokka?! What? Is that all I am to you? One of the _guys_?! Just because I could kill you just by moving my foot doesn't mean that I want to be just your friend! Jeez, Ponytail! I don't want you to see me as a boy! I want to be your girl friend! I mean, I want to be your _friend _that's a _girl_! I want you to know that I'm a girl, and to not think of me as one of the – "

The angry Earthbender was suddenly cut off, because Sokka had crushed his lips to hers.


	5. Chapter 5

This is the last chapter. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story!

This story is dedicated to PashaKovalevFangirl205 and her awesome-ness. She's read and reviewed the majority of my stories, which I really appreciate! Thanks to some other people who I've frequently seen review my stories: Xxuchiha-girlxX, Solembum13, Kataang4eva, knittingpanda, GoldenMerlin, Nerf-or-Nothing, Tokkalover, and anyone else who has ever read or reviewed one of my stories! Thanks so much! I really appreciate everyone's encouragement and all the ideas that came spewing in when I had none.

* * *

_I should crush him. I should crush him with my foot and tell him to never talk to me again. I should tell him that when I wanted him to notice me, he didn't. And now he just got me to shut up by kissing me. Of all the dirty…_

_Oh, who am I kidding? He's kissing me. He. Is. Kissing. Me. _Me_. Toph. The Earthbender. The Blind Bandit. Me. Just me. It's just you and me, Sokka. Just you and me. Me and you._

"Toph, I do see you as a girl… I know it's hard to believe that I do sometimes. But I'm not too good at the girl thing. I mean, the only girls I ever kissed… I mean, my point is that I… I do like you. I just didn't know if you liked me or not." He said with a small shrug, his dark skin flushing slightly. "Katara kind of told me that you liked me. But I didn't believe her."

"Katara told you? How did Katara know?" she questioned, feeling a little self-conscious. Was it that obvious? Did Aang know? Did Zuko know? What about the rest of their small group?

"She said something about… Uhhh, that day I got my sword?" he made a face, trying to remember the day she had mentioned. "Yeah. She said you missed me. 'She missed you, Sokka.' Or something."

Toph felt like sighing. "You can't even remember what she said? You're not too smart, are you? One too many blows to the head, Snoozles?"

Sokka shrugged, though his face flushed slightly. "Well it didn't really matter anyway. I wasn't going to go up to you and say, 'I like you, Toph!' when I wasn't sure if you liked me or not."

She grinned, punching him lightly on the arm. "You know how I always call you Ponytail, Ponytail?"

Well. That wasn't what Sokka had been expecting. What was she talking about now? He blinked, before nodding. "Uh, yes..."

"Every time I said that, I meant, 'I like you.' Got it, Ponytail?"

Slowly his face pulled into a grin. She had called him Ponytail before. A lot. "Okay." He said with a grin, and picked up his bag of meat from where he had set it down before. With grins on their faces, the two started walking back towards camp.

Later that day, Katara approached her brother. "What did you say to Toph? She was really angry this morning, and now she's… grinning. What did you say? I wonder if we can say that all the time that she's angry."

"Uhhh, nothing," he answered quickly, shooting a grin towards Toph. "We just talked."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Katara pursed her lips, before starting to walk away. She turned mid-step and looked back at him. "Why does she keep saying 'Ponytail' at the end of every sentence?"


End file.
